Pivot Bikes

Pivot Bikes on Competitive Cyclist

From time to time, a company is as well known for the man leading it as it is for the products that it creates. We'd hesitate for just a second to make the comparison to Henry Ford, Lee Iacocca, or Steve Jobs, but these men spring to mind as charismatic leaders whose drive for success was only eclipsed by their innovation, solutions, and passion for the companies they steered. Chris Cocalis is a similar visionary, and he's the man behind Pivot Cycles.

Cocalis started Titus Cycles in 1991, nurturing its growth until 2006 when he sold to a partnering company. Not long after, Chris resurfaced with Pivot Cycles and a US distributorship for BH Bicycles. When we saw a Pivot for the first time, we thought "Titus." In reality what we recognized was Cocalis' influence on both the current and the older bikes. But these aren't just re-badged, re-hashed old designs. The most recognizable change is the rear suspension. All Pivot full suspension bikes use dw-link rear suspension. Like Ibis and Turner designers, Cocalis partners with Dave Weagle, the man behind dw-link, to optimize the placement of the pivots and the links. With each Pivot bike model, Cocalis has an idea of how he'd like the bike to ride, and he meshes that vision with Weagle's mathematical parameters to achieve the correct level of anti-squat from the rear suspension.

The anti-squat on Pivot Bikes is worth more than a mention. it's the principle tenet of the bikes and shapes the way they ride. More so than any other suspension design, dw-link counteracts rider input onto the rear suspension. As the greatest portion of the vehicles mass (rider and bike), the rider can have a profound effect on the way a suspension works (or doesn't work) on the trail. Weagle designed the dw-link to resist squat in the suspension as the rider accelerates and causes a weight shift onto the rear wheel. Instead, a Pivot bike will remain stable and accelerate with snappy precision. Another benefit is increased traction and control in all conditions. In our experience, Pivot bikes with dw-link rear suspension give you what you want without compromise. That is, you can have pedaling efficiency right alongside active bump compliance on technical trails.

Cocalis is a man known to have a bit of "healthy" paranoia, knowing that something better is always coming. This is why Pivot Cycles never rests with the status quo. While all of their bikes were first created in aluminum, They've taken the necessary time to develop a carbon version of the Mach 5.7 that truly offers advantages over its predecessor. Stiffer, lighter, stronger. This is always the goal with Pivot Cycles. According to inside sources, Cocalis also possesses a sense of detail that enables him to "tune-in" to the bikes he tests to determine which offers the best rider experience. Where the average bike nut might not sense a difference, Cocalis can discern the finest pleasures, or offenses, from a working prototype.

With a Pivot mountain bike, you can be sure that all the work and attention to detail yield a ride that's unmatched in any terrain or conditions.